The Best People to Have On Your Team to Secure Funding (Views: 23612)
Wed, 24 Jul 2013
When running a small business, securing the proper amount of funding from investors can be a journey all in itself. Before you get started, you will have to realize that you are certainly likely to receive many “No’s” before you hear a “Yes.”
There’s no need to be discouraged, however. If you have the right team surrounding your small business, then achieving funding can be a successful process. You will want a team with many different personalities to help appeal to multiple funding sources. Think of it as building “The A-Team” of people that will appeal to a universal group of investors. Consider the following people to surround yourself with in order to secure funding:
The Rational Thinker
This person will present ideas that have been used with great success by many companies in the past. Measured, conservative, and practical thinkers are often similar to many great businessmen that have profited by implementing carefully planned and outlined strategies. Investors will like to hear a business model that is based off of one that has gone well before, and will be more apt to invest if you have a company full of rational, level-headed workers.
The Creative Type
As businesses have become more plugged into the trends of today’s fast-paced society, it may not be such a bad idea to have a progressive thinking person in the group. While their technique and thinking may not appeal to most investors at first, they offer an important part of the process.
Investors aren’t likely to hand over money to a company that is employing tactics that have been seldom used before (if at all), but there may be enough investors to be interested. Some of the investors aren’t looking for a low cost and low risk type of investment, but rather the “next big thing.” And sometimes it takes a creative, eccentric, quirky employee who thinks out of the box to generate that type of atmosphere.
It’s a roll of the dice for many investors when it comes to this type of person, but there have been many enormous companies that have been started by people like “The Creative Type.” Just ask Bill Gates, James Cameron, or Richard Branson.
The Numbers Person
The Numbers Person is probably the most popular person in the boardroom of investors. Many investors will like to hear exactly how much they will need to invest, and exactly how much they can expect in return. When all of the numbers are placed in front of them, they are much more likely to invest with a set plan in place.
The statistical analysis is like a warm blanket to investors that are looking for safety. For that reason, it’s always important to have a numbers person in the group. And that goes for every group. Investors will never hand over money without seeing some analysis, and your numbers guru can help lay out the math for an investor who needs just a little more convincing.
The Answers Guy
There are going to be a lot of questions that investors have, so always make sure to have someone on hand that is readily able to answer any of these questions. When it gets to a point where someone is stammering along in a presentation and scrambling to answer an investor’s question, the pitch may have already been lost.
This person will do the studying of all the ins and outs. Partly a marketer, partly a politician, the answers guy will know what to say, when to say it, and will have a perceptive personality that can read body language and interpret common business lingo.
With this team in place, there is no reason that your company won’t at least have a foundation of successful personalities that will help win over a potential investor for funding. Having a nice blend of people that appeal to different types of investors shows that you have an open mind towards all levels of marketing and production, but always make sure to research your investors!
John Gower is a writer for NerdWallet, a personal finance website dedicated to helping you save money with financial tips on everything from social media marketing to the highest cd rates.
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